Survivors and Killers each have the option to use up to four perks in their loadout, which gives their characters special abilities. Perks differ between Survivors and Killers; a Survivor perk may not be used by Killers and vice versa. Examples of Survivor perks include a burst of speed when running from the Killer, the ability to self-heal without a medkit, disabling sacrificial hooks without a toolbox, and many more. Examples of Killer perks include seeing Survivors through walls, hindering the effects of struggling Survivors while taking them to a hook, preventing generators from being worked on, regressing generators, speeding up the recovery of their basic attack, and many more.
There are a number of "general perks" that start unlocked for any character to learn. Additionally, each specific character starts off with a set of three perks that are unique to them. Perks, add-ons, and items can be unlocked through the Bloodweb, a skill tree where each character can spend in-game currency. Advancing to level 50 in a character’s Bloodweb allows the player to "prestige" that particular character. Doing so resets the character back to level 1 and unlocks the next tier (level) of the character’s unique perks to every other character owned of the same role if there is a higher tier.